‘1 in 10 suicides by seriously ill’

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At least 10 per cent of people who commit suicide are suffering from a
terminal or chronic illness, according to a report highlighting the bleak
choices facing patients with incurable conditions. Yet their plight is
routinely ignored by the NHS, it says.

Research from the think-tank Demos
suggests that many of these people are choosing to kill themselves early
rather than face more severe pain later. Coroners told researchers they
sometimes “turn a blind eye” when they suspect that a terminally ill person
might have had help from a friend or relative in committing suicide.